ZORA'S POVElliot stared right back at me, saying nothing. His expression was unreadable. I could not tell if he was angry or pleased. I wondered briefly what had brought him here after telling me in clear terms that we should stay away from each other. Had Sharon told him of her visit to my office? Or had he already gotten wind of my just concluded interview? "Uhmm, hi," I said, fingering the door knob nervously. It did not occur to me to invite him into the house. "Hi," he replied. I licked my suddenly dry lips, not sure of what to say next. "Mum!" Freya yelled from somewhere in the house. "Is it the pizza Kathy promised us? Is it the delivery man?"I cleared my throat and was about to answer when the air was rent by cries of 'Pizza! Pizza!'It was Finn, chanting the words over and over again. His voice grew louder and I heard the patter of little feet as Finn and Freya ran to the door. I wanted to tell them to go back as I was not sure how I would react to whatever Elliot had

ELLIOT'S POV"They are mine," I said to myself as I drove home. My suspicions were confirmed as I had already seen what I had set out to see. There was no question of a mistake. Finn and Freya were mine. I had been such a blind fool not to have noticed it before. I had gone to the house just to see the kids and to clear my doubts. I had seen them several times before, of course. I was even physically closer to them than I had ever been when I had taken them home after they had been kidnapped. Then, I had mostly been in shock after getting information that I was a father and that I had barely given them much attention. This time, I had been calmer and more observant. I saw that they both had my thick dark hair and my blue eyes. When I squatted in front of Freya, I could see a ghost of my own smile on her lips. The timing was right too. Zora had given birth to them some months after we parted ways. The knowledge had hurt me more than I thought it would. I had not been present in th

ZORA'S POVThe caller ID showed that Derek was the one calling. I stared at the phone in surprise. After Freya had told him this afternoon that Elliot had been in the house, I was expecting him to have renewed his decision not to talk to me again. Though it had hurt me a lot, I had stopped calling Derek a few days after he left New York. I figured that he needed lots of time and space to heal and that it was selfish for me to expect him to take me as a friend just a few days after I broke up with him. I wished with all my heart that he was calling to at least try to mend our relationship. Though with what had happened today, I guessed my wish was an unrealistic one. In my preoccupation, I let the phone ring twice. I picked up before the phone could stop ringing and perhaps give Derek the mistaken impression that I did want to take his calls. "Hello?" I said in a voice that was not quite steady. I cleared my throat. "Are you- How are you?""I was gone for only a week, Zora," he his

ZORA'S POV I got Freya from school, leaving Finn to wait in front of the sick bay building. There was no point in letting them finish the school day. School was already ruined for them for today. Freya must have heard about what happened because she was not her usual cheery self. It was a subdued trio that headed to the car and set off for home. Finn sat beside me on the passenger seat, his arms crossed around his chest, a scowl on his face. I waited till I had driven a considerable distance before speaking. "Finn?" He said something inaudible in reply. "I just want you to know that you did the right thing by defending me. But you were wrong to have hit him. There are different ways you could have handled the situation. You did not have to fight. You could have reported to a teacher and that boy could have gotten... suspended, maybe. At least, he would have been the one in trouble, not you." Finn muttered something under his breath. I took my eyes off the road for a second to

ELLIOT'S POVAs my watch struck the hour, the bell signaling the close of another school day rang. "Just on time," I muttered to myself. Any second now, Katherine and the kids would walk through those doors. Sure enough, they were out in a few minutes. I frowned a little as I watched them. Unlike the last time I had been here, the kids didn't look cheerful at all. Though Katherine held both their hands firmly, they seemed to be the ones pulling her along as though they couldn't wait to leave the premises. Katherine was talking to them animatedly, but she might have been talking to herself for all the responses she got. She appeared to ask Finn a question. She tapped him when he didn't answer. All he did was nod. I got out of my car, taking pains not to be seen until I got close to them. I wanted this to be another 'coincidental' meeting. If Zora or Katherine got the impression that I was deliberately seeking the kids out, they might start taking pains to avoid me. "Guess what,